The City of St. Charles, a Fox River Valley community split across Kane and DuPage counties, requires a contractor to file a $10,000 surety bond with the City before it will license them and issue building permits. Ours is $100 flat — the price you see is the checkout price. The bond issues the moment you pay — a soft credit pull at most, never a hard inquiry.
















A city contractor license bond is about the simplest filing in surety. Here's the entire process:
Business details and an effective date. That's the application — no financials, no credit section.
License bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. At most, 1–2 business days.
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to file with St. Charles' Community Development Department alongside your contractor license application. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
Illinois does not license general contractors at the state level, so the City of St. Charles runs its own contractor licensing program through its Community Development Department and conditions it on a $10,000 surety bond. No license, and no building permit tied to it, goes to an unbonded contractor.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of St. Charles (the obligee), with property owners and the City itself as the protected parties. If a licensed contractor's work causes damage the licensing requirement is meant to guard against, a harmed party can recover against the bond up to the $10,000 penal sum.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond has to stay active for the life of your city license, so we track it and remind you before renewal so your permit privileges don't lapse.
These are the actual issuing fields — no credit section, because this application doesn't collect credit information.
Start the application →$100 flat, soft pull only, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.